I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on these two magazines, but I saw them at the expo this year and it reminded me that I should.

Any magazine that comes out about podcasting is going to have a lot of ads. They’re going to have to be ad driven in order to make enough money to produce the magazine. That’s just a fact. What I like about these magazines though… is that I actually READ the ads. Their all about stuff I need (okay… want) anyway and things that I can tell clients and friends they should be buying (mostly so I can play with them and not have to pay). Also, you’ll see full page spreads on the latest class, conference, or discussion that you should be attending that you didn’t know about before.

Podcast User Magazinehttp://www.podcastusermagazine.com
Over 20 issues now, and each one has interviews, news that you should actually read and know, and reviews of upcoming events as well as explanations of past ones. The best thing I like about this magazine is that is usually has some educational articles in it as well. Last month was about microphone proximity. Maybe the very best thing about it is that the online pdf version of it is a free download.

Blogger&Podcasterhttp://www.bloggerandpodcaster.com
They are on their sixth or seventh issue now, and it has rapidly become a great magazine. Not only does it have reviews of hardware / software, in-depth looks at conferences, lots of short snippets from podcasting news, but the contributing writers are great. The website is a bit of a struggle to navigate and ‘read’ the magazine from, so I suggest subscribing for the $80 a year.

… but from the sound of things, it’s still going to be the best podcasting conference out there and will continue to include talks, vendors, equipment, and software for podcasters and other new media users.

The venue has also changed. Announced at the 2007 conference, the New Media Expo 2008 is going to be:

August 14-16, 2008 at the
Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada

Franklin McMahon went through 10 habits to making your podcast a dominate force on the new media scene… and how to be a rock star. He talked about how these secret habits need to be practiced over and over again. Here are my notes:

1. Market out of the podcast bubble
⁃ other podcasters first, targeted promo creation
⁃ but not just that, do press releases, tv, radio
⁃ target the world, how to tvs, cell phones, game consoles, etc.
⁃ work social networks and get into where your niche is
⁃ quality of places and what you do with them is better than quantity
2. Take aim at profitability
⁃ your podcast is making as much as you want it now, no more no less
⁃ deal with money, be comfy with it
⁃ make it a mission to make money if you want to, focus on it
⁃ don’t handle revenue or sales, delegate it
⁃ make sure profits help you grow the show
3. Promote what separates you
⁃ look at what you have that others do not have
⁃ be unique and stress your strength
⁃ how many elements does your show contain that can’t be found elsewhere?
⁃ you? you can’t get you on other shows, promote that
⁃ make them love you or hate you, people get passionate about it
⁃ don’t make it so everyone will love it, disagree with some things
4. Be a rock star
⁃ confidence, big vision, no talent needed… just drive, be tenacious
⁃ face forward, market everything with your images
⁃ a lot is luck, chance meetings, running into people, etc
⁃ get a professional photographer
⁃ secret to getting what you want… ask
⁃ audio is intimate, video is personal… fans are dedicated
5. Create a community
⁃ it’s a family, not a show, bring people into your community
⁃ a community will stay with you if something goes wrong
⁃ they can be steered as well, moved to do things
⁃ higher numbers let you take more changes
⁃ start a movement, rally the fans, let them do things
6. Content before marketing
⁃ don’t get lost on the web, keep the content flow going
⁃ under promise and over deliver
⁃ treat stats professionally, not personally
⁃ stats are like waves, need to shake them to get them going
⁃ don’t let production weight you down, low res is better than no res
⁃ blog is not the best website for every show… think differently
7. Don’t make a show, build a brand
⁃ do several shows, formats, ratings, demographics, etc.
⁃ time, skills, imagination, and who… 4 career stages
⁃ niche or go wide, middle ground is boring
⁃ create a new market, a new industry, be first, be best
⁃ know who your market is, keep on topic
⁃ position yourself as an expert, become the go-to person on it
8. Have a game plan
⁃ have a plan, goals, benchmarks, roadmap how it’s going to work
9. Delegate what you’re not good at
⁃ get a designer for your logo and website
⁃ some might not even get to the show if the site is lame
⁃ you may have 30 seconds to win them over on your website
10. Smart Interacting
⁃ message boards vs. emails
⁃ once they are in your world, work hard to keep them
⁃ have other people
⁃ watch when you let people behind the scenes, balance, don’t reveal everything
⁃ keep some things a mystery
11. One more thing
⁃ help others, it always comes back to you

I was able to demo the Zoom H2 Handy Recorder at the Podcast and New Media Expo today and think I might have another portable recorder in my pocket real soon. Right now, I’m walking around with a H4, but the little H2 (about the size of a deck of cards) seems to have the same sound quality for less money. I think if you don’t need the features of the H4 (like multitracking), I’m going to have to say that the H2 is my top pick for highly-portable recording right now.

The unit comes with a small tabletop stand, an adapter that allows it to be mounted on a mic stand, a windscreen, a 512mb SD card. It will handle a 4 GB card (awesome) and that will get you six hours of 44.1kHz recording or, they say, 138 hours in MP3 format. Whoa! Here’s a tip though, you’ll only get four hours of life from the 2 AA batteries that power it… so you’ll need to plug it in if you’re recording that long. It comes with an external power supply.

If you want use it for sound recordings, the unit even has a built in tuner and metronome. Multiple people or instruments? It has three microphones, one in the center and two on either side, this not only allows for stereo imaging, but you can also record from the front or rear… even doing Surround 5.1.

The only thing that the guys selling it at the expo said people complain about is the small buttons and interface. You know… I think I can deal with that for the amount money it costs: $200. I think the cost, the portability, and the sound quality that I listened to during the demo make up for it. Also, if the volume is too low when you record, you can actually normalize it.

When you say Viral Video what do you think of?Brett:
– good product
– good packaging
– good distribution
– and something that is remarkable… a video that makes you want to say something to someone about itMolly:
– i think of a frustrating endeavor
– a video that appears out of nowhere, crops up
– cannot predict it
– examples: d*ck in the box, ms south carolina , dramatic squirrel, sneezing panda, talking catsTim:
– you CAN plan to have a viral video
– showed the internet people video
– spectacle comes first, then story
– early video documented things (like a train) but viral is a movie (like a train robbery)
– must have emotions triggered by the video (which he stated last year)

Can you plan for virality?Brett:
– it’s getting harder to be seen
– send it everywhere (distribution)
– tag it and make the right meta data decisions, have the right thumbnail (packaging)
– prom queen has great thumbnails
– an audience or a userbase will forward the video aroundMolly:
– planning is key, yes, but it doesn’t insure that you’ll be viral
– everyone does not have to be in on it
– you should have an audience in mind
– it will make the video more effectiveTim:
– the leave brittney alone guy – 10 million views in one week
– lots of emotions evoked – now has a tv deal
– french maid – funny and sexy
– 6 episodes – last episode has 3 million views on youtube
– meta data terms – girls, sexy, funny, hot, etc. for french maid tv
– faith based podcasts shouldn’t use those :), but there are ones that you should use

How to build an audience?
– what’s the emotional component of your video?
– take small clips that may be viral out of your larger video
– distribute those yourself
– tell them where they can get more content or see the whole video at the end
– emotions: love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, fear
– you need to trigger at least two of those emotions
– who is out there that hates what you do and how can they be vocal about it

If you have questions about this, comment or contact me. I just do enough to trigger memories for me. All in all, a very good session on viral videos.

I’ve been asked if I was going… and yes… I’m here now. I will share my notes, observations, and any cool hardware/software that I find with you.

So far, I’ve found some nice hardware/software on the expo floor and went to one session on Podcasting 101. I wanted to go to that session so I could see if there was anything that the first session of the podcasting conference was telling beginning podcasters anything different than I was teaching in my class… and fortunately… it wasn’t different.

It’s hard to believe the 3rd Annual Podcast and New Media Expo is just 7 months away!

Conference early bird deadline is Wednesday, February 28
$199 pricing for the entire conference ends this Wednesday, February 28. You can save $50 by registering before midnight on the 28th. Click here to go to the registration page now.

Just a quick note to let you know that online registration is now open for the 2007 Podcast and New Media Expo. The 2007 expo will have an expanded focus on video podcasting and production as well as sessions on advanced techniques to grow your audience.

As always, exhibit hall access, keynotes and after-hours events are free. The conference early bird price is $199 and includes any session in any track.

Today I’m basically going to run through my iTunes list of podcasts about podcasting and document them here. I’m always on the lookout for more podcasts for podcasters (and podcasts about podcasters), and I check in with my pod directories about once every two weeks to see if podded (popped?) up. I hope you find these as useful as I do. As always, I’m looking for more and will update this as needed… email me your suggestions.

First, the tutorials and how-to podcasts. Podfading has taken it’s toll on a number of these, and some are dated… but I still save them and use them as resources for people who ask.

http://www.podcastingunderground.com – Jason Van Orden’s news and tips on podcasting. Listening to this podcast could distinguish whether you’re podcast is a marketing success or failure.

http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com – Some people I’m met love it, and some people don’t. I’m a subscriber! I don’t have time to listen as they come out, but I do queue them up for a while and then listen to a bunch of them during a car or plane ride.

http://www.profitablepodcasting.com – Paul Colligan’s podcast concerning issues about the profitability and monetization of podcasting where he interviews people doing it and runs some numbers. I’d put this on your must listen -to list, unfortunately it doesn’t come out often enough.

Fourth, and last, the must see / must listen-to podcasts that keep me going. Even if you listen for a few weeks and don’t hear anything you like… there will be that day when someone covers something that you just couldn’t have done without.

http://geekbrief.podshow.com – this doesn’t specifically address podcasting, but there are some great behind the scenes episodes that let you into their lighting, camera, computer, and studio layout. I’m hooked! There’s also link on the website to their setup (http://geekbriefwp.podshow.com/?page_id=34), and if you’re not a fan… just subscribe and then look at the titles and show notes. Neal and Luria (Cali Lewis’ real name is Luria Petrucci) are great about naming and documenting the shows so you can find what you’re looking for!

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About Jeffrey Daniel Frey

Jeff is the Web Services Manager for Enterprise Applications in the Information Technology Department at Rice University. He provides technology solutions for faculty, staff, and students on campus as well as teaches new technology courses. He is involved in the creation of podcasts for businesses and non-profits, and is currently focusing on how new technologies can integrate and benefit universities and businesses alike. Jeff is available to speak or teach workshops on podcasting or other new internet technologies, and can consult with you on your company/non-profit. learn more about Jeff here>>----------- EMAIL JEFF -----------